Editorial: Rev. Olson devoted to Bonner-Prendie's survival

As the dust settles a bit from the Catholic school upheaval by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's Blue Ribbon Commission, a largely unsung hero is emerging.

The Rev. James Olson, president of the Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School in the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby, has valiantly fought for the survival of the school since he took office there in June 2009.

For just as long, he has fielded rumors of Bonner-Prendie's closing that, at one time, were baseless.

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"It wears me out," admitted the school president in 2010.

But he got a rude awakening on Jan. 6 when the Blue Ribbon Commission, appointed in December 2010 by former Philadelphia archbishop, Cardinal Justin Rigali, to study the sustainability of Catholic education in the five counties of the archdiocese, recommended the closure of Bonner-Prendie and three other archdiocesan high schools.

Olson had hoped that the worst news he would hear would be that the co-institutional school where nearly 1,000 boys and girls are educated separately in neighboring buildings, would just be required to educate both genders in one building.

Olson did not waste any time moping. He and principal William Brannick rallied the troops, including students, their parents, alumni and business owners, to help raise funds for Bonner-Prendie's survival. The priest personally wrote a $1,000 check from his humble clerical earnings to save the school that he has come to love. He raised $5 million in six weeks.

Olson also developed a practical contingency plan for the school's operation that would merge the boys and girls into the Bonner building and make the Prendergast building available for rent as an annex to local Catholic colleges. It would not only help cover costs, it would set the stage for synchronicity between the colleges and high school in terms of student programs.

Then Olson appealed to the commission and Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput to reconsider their recommendation to close Bonner-Prendie. On Feb. 24, he learned from the appeals committee that Bonner-Prendie, along with the three other archdiocesan high schools recommended for closure, would be permitted to remain open.

Assisting in the 17 archdiocesan high schools' survival will be the Faith in the Future Foundation, an independent organization chaired by Blue Ribbon Commission panel member H. Edward Hanway of Upper Providence, that hopes to raise $20 million by 2017.

In September, Olson's plan will be implemented and boys and girls will be educated in the Bonner building while the Prendergast building will be used as an annex for local Catholic colleges.

Archbishop Prendergast High School opened in Drexel Hill in 1953 as a boys school in the building that formerly housed an orphanage, St. Vincent's Home. Three years later, Monsignor Bonner High School for boys was built next door and Prendergast was designated as a girls high school. In 2006, the schools' administrations merged as a money-saving measure. A total of about 38,000 students have graduated from the schools since their foundings.

This latest campaign was not Olson's first on behalf of Bonner-Prendie. In 2010, Olson and Brannick raised close to a half million dollars in less than a month when archdiocesan officials indicated that the single gender model of the co-institutional school was in danger of dissolution.

The priest's efforts have not gone unnoticed by the Catholic Business Network of Greater Philadelphia that, on April 14, is going to salute Olson at a gala starting with a 5 p.m. Mass at the Prendergast chapel. About 300 people then will adjourn for food, scholarship awards and entertainment to the school cafeteria that will be transformed into a "ballroom" where Olson will be honored.

"Father Olson is a role model for all of us, Catholic and non-Catholic, that when you believe, anything is possible. I consider Father Olson a true hero for leading the community to save Bonner-Prendie," said Hollie McDonald, president of the Catholic Business Network of Greater Philadelphia.

Olson, who was ordained in 1988, grew up in Warminster, Bucks County, so his allegiance to Bonner-Prendie was not ingrained but acquired. Father James Olson's devotion to the Delaware County Catholic high school is reflective of all who have helped it survive and, we strongly suspect, he would be the first to tell them so.